Bloody Rabbit
Bloody Rabbit is the 72nd chapter of Jun Mochizuki's Pandora Hearts. The Japanese title translates into "Chains." Synopsis Alice runs to her crumbling Oz, crying out and asking what Jack had done to Oz. Jack remains vacant, thinking about the memory he had just seen and how he'd heard Lacie singing her melody. Jack then decides that seeing Lacie's memories changes everything. Jack asks Lacie the title of the melody she sang, as he'd remembered that Lacie had sung it when they first met as well. Lacie reveals that she had heard the song from Oswald and that she'd just added lyrics to his melody. Jack is initially shocked by this, and Oswald becomes embarrassed with the revelation that he'd written the melody. Oswald states that he had not thought of title and tells Jack to think of one if he'd like too. Jack proposes that they name the song 'Lacie', causing Oswald to be surprised by Jack's quickness. Jack then explains that during the eight years that he was searching for Lacie, whenever he was sad, bitter or had no idea what to do next, Jack would sing the melody to himself. Jack didn't know that there were lyrics to the melody, although he didn't think it mattered as because of the melody he always had a sense that Lacie was by his side, and that's why Jack thought that Lacie was the song itself. Oswald himself said that naming the melody was nothing special, and that Jack could call it whatever he wanted to. Jack then asks Lacie if naming the melody after her was all right with her, and Lacie simply says that as long as Oswald was fine with it, Jack could do whatever he liked, and Jack thanked Lacie for this. Jack then views Lacie's thoughts. Lacie concludes that Jack was strange, and that eight years ago when she'd met him, their interaction was on a whim after getting into a fight with Oswald. Lacie had completely forgotten about the earring she had given Jack, but Jack had treated it dearly, saying that as long as Lacie was by his side, everything was right. Lacie was fine with this, as Jack never tried to force his feelings on Lacie, rather she was the one who was touched when Jack reunited with her eight years later. Jack had noticed Lacie's vacant expression and tried to get her attention. Lacie then concludes that Jack was strange just as she'd thought. Jack continued to view Lacie's thoughts. Lacie noted how if she'd wished for anything, no matter how small of a request, Jack would have forsaken everything immediately just to grant it. Lacie then thought about how Jack acts like he couldn't live without Lacie by his side, but he'd never voluntarily crossed the line with her. Lacie surmises that Jack was only pretending to focus on only Lacie, so surely his true self inside isn't showing through. Lacie notes how despite thinking that Jack was strange, she felt that the time they had spent together was very pleasant, and by just having Jack by her side made her wretched heart feel at ease. Though Lacie knew inside her heart that the pitch black haze was already spreading through her. Jack then sees Lacie and Oswald together outside of her tower just after Lacie had said goodbye to Jack the last time they saw each other. Oswald asks why Lacie had lied to Jack about when the Ceremony would be. Lacie then poses the question of what would've happened had she told Jack the truth, wondering if he would have taken Lacie from the Baskerville estate in order to save her. Oswald notes that if that was what Lacie had wanted, Jack definitely would have done it. There's a silence between the two before Lacie apologizes for acting mean. Lacie then asks Oswald not to think that her death and her life as a Child of Ill Omen was his fault. Lacie explains that despite being born with red eyes, and a lot of bad things have happened with the two of them, Lacie didn't believe in red eyes being the cause of misfortune. Instead, Lacie's eyes allowed her to see the dark intentions of humans, but at the same time, she's also been able to come to know the beauty of humans. Lacie was fine with the fact that her life had only given her a small way of appreciating the world, because she had realized she was the product of a miracle. Lacie then laments on how beautiful the world is and how much she loves it. Oswald tells Lacie that she's strong, but Lacie denies it, saying that she was simply playing the devil’s advocate to tens of thousands of people. Oswald then states that when Lacie was gone, that he'd be lonely. Jack viewed more of Lacie's thoughts and discovered that Lacie at first didn't understand what Oswald had meant when he'd said lonely. The black haze had been spreading throughout her heart for so long that it had shrouded feelings like loneliness, and she'd pretended not to see it. Lacie then thinks about how disappearing from the world will make it so she wouldn't be by Jack's side, and that before now, she had never realized that Jack would be lonely without her or that she'd be lonely without Jack. Lacie determines finally that it was all Jack's fault that she had not been acting like herself. Alice is demanding to know what Jack did to Oz, Oswald, who came in after Alice, asked Jack what he had seen. Jack manages to say that he'd heard Lacie's song. Jack then asks if it's right that Lacie couldn't return to their world on which Oswald respond that she cannot.. Jack accepts this and decides that his solution was really simple, that he'd deliver the world to Lacie instead. In present day, Vincent is urging Gilbert not to strain himself as he'd only just retrieved his memories and his wound was still healing. Break joins Gilbert and Vincent and asks what had happened, also asking where Oz was. Break is shocked as he comes into the realization that Oz wasn't with Gilbert, and Gilbert's response is a mere chuckle as Gilbert murmurs Oz's name. Break is then attacked by Rufus, who summons Dodo and has it pin Break to the ground. Rufus tells Break not to lose interest in him and that he required a proper compensation for the information Rufus supplied Break with. Break struggles after the attack and Rufus demands that Break returns the Key to the Abyss that he had stolen from Sheryl earlier. Rufus goes to retrieve Sheryl's earrings and notices Oswald's head sitting in the middle of the room. Rufus then turns and announces to all who remain alive in the chamber of the fifth Sealing Stone, that the story involving Jack Vessalius sacrificing his body in order to seal Glen's soul away was a farce, and that Jack was in fact no hero, only creating such lies to erase his own existence. Rufus Barma then adds that Jack was in fact the mastermind behind the Tragedy of Sablier 100 years ago. Outside of Pandora, Jack is still the dominant consciousness in his body, having overthrown Oz. Jack tells Oz that he had destroyed his own body to send Jack Lacie's memories and feelings from the Abyss, and that he now knew what he had to do. Oz is slow to absorb this, and Jack explains that he will plunge the world that Lacie loved so much into the Abyss to end her longing as she had become a part of the Abyss herself. Jack then explains that for this reason, he had requested that the Intention of the Abyss created a Chain that was meant to destroy the chains that made up their world. The Intention of the Abyss granted Jack's request, and the Blood-Stained Black Rabbit was born. Jack then recalls an interaction between himself and Levi. Levi explains that the Abyss was the beginning of everything, but is also the end of everything at the same time. In order to prevent this power from consuming the world, it has chains in place to protect it. Jack tells Levi that he had never heard of such a thing before. Levi didn't expect Jack to have heard of the Chains before, as it was with Levi telling Jack of them, it sounded abstract, but how it sounded didn't matter, as the world as it was, was putting to use the power of these chains to prevent such an event from happening. Levi then continued to say that Jack had never seen these Chains before, nor had he been able to touch them, as the Chains were like the air all around them. The Baskervilles themselves were tasked to keep an eye out for the chains and anything relating to the power of the Abyss. Jack then asked what would happen if these chains were to break. Levi explains that the breaking of the chains would lead to nothing, more over, the destruction of the world as they knew it. Jack explains to Oz that he failed to intervene 100 years ago, and flashbacks of Alice confronting Jack are shown, She hears out his plan and yells she won't let him carry it out. Jack states that this time would be different and tells Oz to destroy the Chains with his destructive powers. Suddenly Alice dives in from above and drop kicks Jack to the ground. Alice calls Jack stupid and says that she would never allow him to destroy the chains. Alice explains that she thought she'd come back since she'd finally beaten Echo, and then asks who gave Jack permission to meddle with her property. Characters in order of appearance Terms Trivia *This chapter's alternate title is "Chain". *Jack is revealed as the true instigator of the Tragedy of Sablier. *Jack asked The Intention of the Abyss to turn the black rabbit doll into a Chain, the Blood-stained Rabbit. *Dodo makes its first full body appearance, having only its head appear behind Rufus Barma in 'Retrace XLIII: Crown of Clown'. *It appears that Alice may have been the one to stop Jack from destroying the chains that hold the world together 100 years ago. *The Chains mentioned in 'Retrace LXX: Oz' were revealed to be chains that held the world together and if destroyed would cause utter destruction. Navigation Category:Manga